I removed my winter protection which included at wire cage and poly film wrap. I used a string of Christmas lights inside and turned them on when it was cold. We lost power for 35 hours during a snow storm and the outside temperature dropped to -2.9F (-19.3C). The Citrumelo survived.

Tim, is that on the east side of the building? I was just curious how much sun that enclosure was getting. I'm assuming too much sun could be bad if it heats up the enclosure too much, but just morning sun seems like a nice balance maybe?
Really encouraging, thanks for doing and posting!

Hi Greg,

the Citrumelo is south facing but in winter the sun does not hit it until 10 to 11am. Excess heat from the sun is a BIG issue. In December/January it's not much of an issue since the sun is at a low angle and temps are cold but in February the inside temp could exceed 100F. I placed a snow sled on top of the protection (see photo below). I took off or opened up the snow sled so heat would excape.



You can see the snow sled in this photo:

My seedling dunstan survived winter with low of 19 degree highs during ice storm, without protection on south side of house. Some leaves are yellowish.

wow looks great!

sorry for the out of focus photo.............but the Citrumello is growing.

Tim, nice to see your Dunstan made it through the winter! What variety of bamboo is hiding in the pot in the background?

Hi Scott,

that bamboo was left outside all winter......I think it's dead. I was given that from Steve of NJ last fall....it grows about 4' to 5' tall and looked nice in his woodland garden. Not sure of ID. Perhaps I'll get the roots to come back??

hi
any update on its progress?

The citrumelo is doing great.......here's a few photos

Must say that is pretty amazing! Outside growing with that kind of snowfall and temperatures, super!

Tim, looking good! How do the old leaves that went through winter look, did they fall off or is the tree still holding on to them?

I finally planted my Thomasville outside this spring... we'll see how it does. The protection for it will be somewhere in between what I use for my Satsuma and what you did for the Dunstan. I also have a Yuzu and the Logee's citrumelo that I might plant outside just to see what happens.

I recall some of the old leaves turning yellow and falling off in spring........but I'm not sure if all the old leaves fell off.....I don't think that was the case. Here's a close up of the leaves.



I'm glad to hear your planting some more citrus outside. Please keep us posted on their progress.

tree looks great

any idea when the fruit would ripen, I am scouting out an area in my yard for one

I've read horror stories that citrumelos take years and years to bloom. A fellow in south central New Jersey just got a few flowers this season and he planted his citrumelo 5 years ago. I have no clue if the fruit will ripen prior to freezes.........only time will tell.

What type of citrumelo do you have Frank? So far I have Dustan, Swingle and that EBay version. Perhaps one type will grow better in our climate?